Poll looks at Mormon political views

With Mitt Romney leading the Republican presidential field, a detailed new poll of Mormons is shedding light on a community that feels ambivalent about whether the country is ready for a president of their faith.

The majority of U.S. Mormons, 66 percent, describe their ideology as conservative, while 22 percent identify themselves as moderate and 8 percent as liberal, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Mormons across the country released by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life on Thursday.

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Similarly, 74 percent of registered Mormon voters are Republican or Republican-leaning, while just 17 percent are Democratic or Democratic-leaning.

Almost nine in 10 Mormons, 86 percent, said they have a favorable view of Romney, compared with just 25 percent who have a favorable view of President Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, the other Mormon candidate in the GOP field, was considered favorably by only 50 percent of Mormons, with 24 percent viewing him unfavorably and 26 percent saying they were not sure.

Despite the fact that a strong majority of Mormons have a positive view of Romney, just 56 percent of the community said the country is ready for a Mormon president, while 32 percent said the country was not ready and 12 percent said it either depends on certain factors or they weren’t sure.

The ambivalence about a Mormon president may have something to do with how Mormons feel about Americans’ knowledge and perception of their religion. The majority of Mormons, 62 percent, said they believe Americans know little or nothing about Mormonism. Just 37 of Mormons said Americans know either a great deal or something about their religion.

And almost one in two Mormons, 46 percent, said there is a lot of discrimination against their community, while 68 percent said they believe others do not see Mormonism as a “mainstream” religion.

Still, the majority of Mormons surveyed, 63 percent, said acceptance of their religion seemed to be rising, while only 5 percent said acceptance seemed to be falling.